NORAD Evacuated Over Suspicious ‘Out of Place’ Packages

NORAD evacuated: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was evacuated for several hours due to suspicious packages.

A Google Maps screenshot shows the location of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, where NORAD is located. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Officials lifted an evacuation order at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, facility in Colorado on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, employees found several suspicious packages, prompting an evacuation that lasted more than four hours, reported The Associated Press. NORAD’s command control team worked at a backup location several miles away at Cheyenne Mountain and essential missions were not disturbed during the incident, officials said.

The facility at Cheyenne Mountain, which was carved out of a mountain decades ago to provide safety from a potential Soviet nuclear attack, used to be the location of NORAD’s primary control room.

A spokesman with Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, where NORAD is currently located, told the news agency that the packages appeared “out of place.”

The were five suspicious packages found at the facility’s Eberhardt-Findley Building, according to KKTV in southern Colorado.

The station reported that the packages were deemed non-threatening and only contained simple office supplies. A team of military dogs was deployed on the scene.

“Preliminary test results of the package indicated that there is not a positive test for a nuclear, biological or chemical element contained within the package,” a base representative, who was not named, told KKTV.

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NORAD also shares a facility with U.S. Northern Command, which is used to defend American territory from a potential attack. According to AP, authorities said Northern Command operations were not disturbed.